


Post Mortem

by Anonymous



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Alien Biology, Alternate Universe, Autopsy, Dib & Zim Friendship (Invader Zim), Dib is guilty and depressed, Dib partners up with a future version of himself so there's multiple Dibs, Zim is dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22303996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Through an alien time traveling portal, Dib ends up in an alternate future in which Zim is dead and he got to perform the autopsy he always wanted to. The Dib of this future is horribly depressed and not at all like how Dib imagined his life would be after Zim, can he make things right?
Relationships: Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), ZADF - Relationship
Comments: 9
Kudos: 104
Collections: Anonymous





	Post Mortem

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe one day I'll claim this work, but for now I'll be posting anonymously, because I do want to share this!

Maniacal laughter echoed across Zim’s underground laboratory. Atop of a mechanical arc with a mysterious alien looking portal within it, Zim stood proud. 

“You may have gotten past my security, but that won’t help you once I enter my new and improved space/time object replacement device! This time I can actually go inside, and instead of the past I will go to the future! One where I have surely taken over the earth already!” Zim announced. 

Dib wanted to question what he was even talking about, given that this is the first time he’s heard of a ‘space/time object replacement device’, but since it’s Zim, he doesn’t bother. 

“What if I go inside and go to a future where I beat you and expose aliens to the world?” Dib asked in a casual tone, after feuding with Zim for a little bit, he found he could easily get answers out of Zim if he talked to him instead of yelling at him. 

“I suppose that could work.” Zim answered him in a strangely normal sounding and not at all insane tone, but then after a few seconds he caught himself, “Don’t you dare, Dib-beast! This is my portal!”

Zim jumped down with the assistance of his pak legs and wrestled Dib to the ground once he caught Dib trying to enter the portal. Dib was able to throw him off and jump inside. He felt his body twist in ways he didn’t think possible, then he found himself standing in a visibly decayed looking laboratory, and Zim was nowhere in sight. He was in the distant future. 

…

Dib looked around, and then took the elevator to the upper floor. Zim’s ‘house’ was filled with dust and cobwebs, Zim clearly hadn’t been there in a long time. What was more mysterious is Zim’s little robot minions were nowhere in sight, and the parent robots were severely corroded and covered in rust. 

Dib walked out the front door and saw Zim’s unkept yard, his garden gnomes buried under the tall grass. Dib turned around and took one last look at the decrepit alien base, and then it finally sunk in. 

“I did it!” Dib shouted victoriously, “I’m in a future where I win!”

Excited to see what this future had to offer, Dib excitedly ran down the street across to where his home would be. The world outside of Zim’s base was technologically advanced beyond anything he had previously seen. Anticipation grew inside of him, this was the world in which he exposed alien life and clearly made Earth a more galaxy-versed planet. Could they have alien allies? People who had looked to Earth as a heroic planet that disposed of the Irken threat, and all of it possible through him!

Dib’s delusions of grandeur preventing him from realizing upon arriving at his home that a plaque that read ‘Membrane & Son Labs’ just above the door. 

The person who opened the door almost looked like Professor Membrane himself, but they were different. This person was far skinnier and tired looking, prominent dark circles were visible under their glasses. Even though they were wearing his dad’s usual lab coat, Dib knew for a fact this isn’t who his dad had become with old age, this was him. 

Dib and Older Dib let out shocked gasps simultaneously. 

“Y-You’re M-Me!” Dib pointed an accusing finger at his older self.  
Older Dib let out a stressed sigh, “Oh, wow, seeing you…Really takes me back.”

“Why are you wearing dad’s lab coat? I thought you would have been dressed…Cooler.” Dib said in a disappointed tone. 

“Geez, thanks, little me.” Older Dib responded curtly, “Before you say anything else, I’ll answer the rest for you. You don’t become a paranormal investigator, people still don’t believe in the paranormal, and the Beavers win the Super Cup.”

Dib was a little confused at the last part, but quickly recovered to barrage his older self with more questions. Older Dib let Dib inside, but turned his back to him to pour himself a cup of coffee. Why was he was drinking coffee at night? Dib didn’t bother to ask because Older Dib already looked like a mess. 

“B-But, the world is so advanced now! You’re telling me that you didn’t integrate alien technology into that?” Dib asked. 

Older Dib shook his head, “All of this is from the work dad and I did together.” He said, “Gaz went off to pursue her interests and I’m still here…Working for dad.” 

Older Dib took a sip of his coffee as Dib was fuming. 

“How could this happen? How could you just give up on our dreams?” Dib questioned in a hurt tone, “Where’s Zim?” 

Older Dib choked on his drink and quickly put his mug down, wiping the coffee off of his face. He looked down at his hands in his lap, his eyes wide with a sort of shell-shocked expression. 

“You defeated Zim, right?” Dib prodded his older self. 

“Y-Yeah, I did. He’s…Been gone for years now.” Older Dib said slowly, “How did you get here by the way?”

“My Zim built some kind of time traveling portal and I ran through it.” Dib explained, suddenly, Older Dib got up and knelt down to his level, grabbing Dib tightly by the shoulders. 

“You have to go back there, go back and don’t make the same mistakes I did.” Older Dib pleaded with him. 

“What did you do?” Dib asked, he’d do anything to prevent himself from becoming a pawn of his father’s own ambitions, to prevent becoming the sorry display that was before him. 

Older Dib stood up, “I’ll show you.” 

Together, past and future traveled into what was once Dib’s bedroom. There was a bed still there, but anything that would have made it feel more like a room was gone. It looked just like another lab, filled with filing cabinets and a desk piled with papers. Older Dib silently perused through multiple files packed tightly into his desk drawer, he pulled out a single folder and looked at it with a pained expression. He handed it to Dib without even looking inside. 

Write on the front label were the words **‘ZIM’S AUTOPSY’**

Dib felt his heart skip a beat, he had always imagined about what this moment would feel like. Just seeing those two words next to each other in fine print gave him a certain euphoric feeling, but he also felt feelings of dread. 

His future self was pathetic and unhappy, this folder that was supposed to bring him happiness clearly wasn’t going to. Still, Dib was always curious about Zim’s anatomy and this would be the moment he’d finally get to see what an alien looked like from the inside. 

He opened the folder was met with a picture of Zim sprawled on a cold metallic table. His face was disgustingly peaceful, as if he were just sleeping, even with his insides exposed. That was what made Dib feel knots in his stomach, the unnatural appearance of Zim without a grin on his face, or a scowl, or a confused expression that he usually wore when alive. For some reason, Dib assumed Zim would still be alive as he scooped the alien’s insides out, screaming his little head off, but Dib never really thought of the inevitable death of his worst enemy and how that would make him feel.

Zim entire midsection was cut open, his skin pinned to the table, his organs were carefully labeled with added labels and drawn on arrows pointing towards each one. Older Dib had added notes, including more on Zim’s infamous ‘Squeedlyspooch’ and the many functions it had. There were other notes that Dib found fascinating. 

‘No known genitalia, No nipples, Reproduction is asexual’ 

‘Teeth are soft, made of blood vessels and tissue’ 

‘Tongue is exactly 10 inches long’

There were a few more photos taken at different angles and that was it. Zim’s placid face in the photographs distracted Dib from feeling the joy he wanted to feel. 

Dib put the folder down and noticed how much paler Older Dib had become, sitting quietly at his desk. 

“How did it happen?” Dib asked. 

There was no gloating, no eagerness for juicy details, he was going to be respectful for his future self. 

“We were fighting, we were up high…I forget where. We fell, he tried to get his pak legs out, then I got on top of him and grabbed one of his legs and…” Older Dib struggled to explain the story, he was fidgeting, “I landed on him and he landed on his back, his pak was smashed and that was it…He died about 5 minutes after that, he was still trying to talk to me…fuck.”

“Do you still have his pak?” Dib asked. 

Older Dib nodded, he got up slowly, a shaking hand clasped onto his chair for support. He went to what was once Dib’s closed and pulled out a small box, placing it on the bed and taking out what was inside. 

Zim’s busted pak was given to Dib. It was partially crushed, the complicated mechanical insides were visible through the large crack on its right side. Dib inspected it and was overwhelmed by how intricate it was. It was Zim’s primary brain after all. 

“What did you do with his body? You did show people what you found, didn’t you?” Dib questioned. 

Older Dib let out a stressed sigh, “I did, and at first I found some moderate success. People were interested in my findings but…One skeptic thought that the autopsy was fake, that Zim was just a puppet I filled with pig guts and lied about. So I went back for Gir and Minimoose…”

Older Dib threw a hand to his mouth as if he was going to vomit. Dib put Zim’s pak down and placed a hand on his future self’s shoulder. 

“I took them apart. I took Gir and Minimoose apart to prove that they were alien technology. Skeptics said that I just built them myself and all of my work was labeled as conspiracy.” Dib said, “I’ve tried for years to find something else to show the world, but I’ve had no luck. No other aliens ever came to Earth, the massive never came, Zim is gone and so are all my dreams.” 

Dib said nothing else, he too felt the dread that Older Dib surely felt. The knowledge that his struggle fighting with Zim was for nothing, that Zim himself was just as much of ‘nothing’ as Dib had become. 

“I buried Zim in the backyard with Gir and Minimoose. I should have buried his pak with him but a part of me still wanted to prove his existence to the world, it was stupid.” Older Dib said in a defeated tone, “What’s worse is Zim is what served as a crossroads for me and my aspirations. Through him I got to meet aliens, travel through space, learn more about what’s out there. Now that he’s gone, I’ve just gone back to being ostracized by everyone. He isn’t there to try to take over the world and now Earth doesn’t need me for anything but to assist my dad in making some stupid new smartphone.”

Dib sat in silence, taking the time to think about how different his life had become since that alien menace came to Earth. How his life had become so much more complicated, but so much more validated. This future version of himself never came as close to living his dream as he did with Zim ever again, this future version of himself resorted to just doing what his father wanted him to do and was living life as a shell of his former self. 

“As dumb as it may sound to you, Zim is the closest thing to a friend we’ll ever get.” Older Dib said with a melancholic smile, like he had remembered a fond distant memory while reminiscing, “He was the only person who ever took us seriously, who commended us for our intellect. Now we’re just the loser everyone believed us to be.” 

“That stinks…” Dib said, genuinely sympathetic despite his wording, “We’ve gotta figure out a way to fix this, I have to go back and stop myself from ever becoming you! No offense.” 

“None taken…Do you remember anything about Zim’s portal? What it looked like or what it was made out of?” Older Dib inquired. 

Dib thought for a moment, the appearance of the technology thankfully still clear in his mind. Older Dib seemed to catch onto what he was pondering and gave him a pencil and paper. Dib drew out a crude recreation of what the portal. 

“I don’t know what kind of materials he used to make it, but this is what it looked like.” Dib handed his future self the drawing. 

Older Dib held a hand up to his chin, “I think I could make this work. I have a decent amount of technology I took out of Zim’s lab.”  
The tired, older version of himself seemed to perk up a bit. 

“Yeah! I’m feeling confident, little me! Let’s make ourselves an alien time traveling portal!” Older Dib exclaimed, blueprints clasped in his fist. 

“Wow! Getting to built something out of alien technology with myself! I never knew how much I wanted this!” Dib bounced back with the same enthusiasm. 

Older Dib was not bluffing when he claimed he had taken materials out of Zim’s lab. Nearly every piece of equipment Dib had seen was there, including some devices Dib had never seen Zim ever use. 

Older Dib tore apart the gadgets down to nuts and bolts, showing a vast amount of knowledge that current Dib had not yet accumulated. He felt pretty outsmarted by his own future self, he couldn’t offer much help other than the design of Zim’s time portal. 

As Older Dib got more serious into his work, Little Dib decided to snoop around in what was now known as Membrane and Son’s lab. Next to a framed photograph of his much older looking family, there was a worn down old cardboard box that stood out to Dib. On the side it read “Dib’s crazy alien stuff’. 

Dib rolled his eyes, clearly his dad had added that label. But, the box was filled with stuff that he was interested in, and at least his future dad had the decency not to completely throw it away. 

Inside were crumpled up newspapers depicting the rise and fall of Dib’s short career as a paranormal investigator. From what Dib read, it only took days for the public to decide that Zim’s autopsy was fake. 

It made him feel anxious, that he was seemingly doomed to fail, even if Zim’s alien guts were shown to the world. The Earth didn’t want to believe the things he always did, even when proof was shown to them. 

The world seemed like an okay place now that Zim was gone, but his own life? It was empty. How stupid was that? He ‘saved the world’ and yet he could so clearly tell that a life without Zim was an empty one.

Outside of Zim being an insane menace, Zim was the only reason he got to see space and interact with aliens and do all the things he always wanted to, and for once, in that situation he was not ‘just crazy’, he was just as right as he knew he always was. 

Dib pulled out a floppy disk labeled **‘DIB MEMBRANE - ALIEN AUTOPSY’.**

Wow, he really did have an alien autopsy video named after himself. 

He was scared to put it into one of the lone computers that was unused by Older Dib, scared that if he saw a video of what was depicted in the autopsy folder that he’d just feel worse. 

But curiosity got the best of him, and if this is what became of Zim’s sorry life, he owed Zim the decency of not letting his autopsy be entirely in vain. 

He thought to himself that if he had a better understanding of Zim’s anatomy, then he’d have a better understanding of Zim. Maybe they’d fight less, maybe he could make Zim less insane. Whatever fight they had that caused his death, maybe he could prevent it.  
Dib inserted the floppy disk and watched as the scene he saw in the photographs played out. 

The muffled voice of a slightly older Dib but not quite as old as Older Dib began speaking, his face covered with a surgical mask. 

“Subject is named Zim. Classification: Invader. Species: Irken.” Video Dib said, his breathing was labored, maybe he was nervous, “Zim has expired 24 hours ago, rigor mortis has not yet set in. He is relatively unchanged, aside from a paler complexion, Irken decomposition appears to be far slower than a human’s.” 

Dib sat with his face close to the computer monitor. He saw Video Dib come closer into view, pulling rubber gloves onto his hands, leaving for a second, and then returning with Zim’s pak. 

“This is an Irken Pak. The Irken’s second but more dominant brain. I don’t really have the tools to expose Zim’s organic brain, but that’s okay, because the pak is more important.” Video Dib explained, showing the pak to the camera, “It no longer opens since it’s dead along with the host body, but when fully functioning, the pak is able to deploy four robotic legs that best resemble a spider, and other gadgets that Zim would have used to try and take over the Earth.”

Video Dib continued on about the knowledge he had collected so far, trying to get the pak’s legs to deploy somehow but the device refused to open. 

“Before I open him up I’m going to take a look at some of his facial features first. He’s still limp, so his mouth won’t be hard to open.” Video Dib explained, cradling a ruler under his arm. 

Dib knew this was the part where Video Dib would have been measuring Zim’s long Irken tongue, and for once, Dib had no interest in seeing himself poke and prod and Zim. He felt that if Zim’s face was disturbed in any form, then the horrible feeling of knowing Zim was dead would hit him even harder. 

Video Dib then talked about Zim’s antenna and how his right antenna had the smallest kink in it, and then Video Dib went on about his theory that the kink was related to Zim’s hearing issues. Video Dib droned on, seemingly talking about interesting and not too disturbing things. 

When Dib thought the whole thing was over, he looked up, only to see Video Dib beginning to pry open one of Zim’s eyelids, revealing Zim’s dull ruby orbs that saw nothing anymore. Dib immediately threw his head down, heart palpitating. 

It was unnatural, the way his eyes looked…Dib looked up again. 

“His eyes are actually ocular implants, so they likely aren’t the eyes he was born with. These implants come mandatory with Irken Invaders to improve their eyesight. When he was alive, it didn’t appear to hurt if his eyes were removed. I’ve seen him put his eyes back into their sockets a few times.” Video Dib explained, prying open Zim’s other eye. 

His eyes had lost the light in them, that was what was wrong. That and Dib knew that even though the Zim in the video stared into him, he could see nothing. Video Dib let Zim’s eyelids close once more and Dib felt the relief of continuing to pretend that Zim was just incredibly drugged and not at all deceased. 

“Anyways, I’m going to be the first human to see the inside anatomy of an alien life form, and then I’m going to share this info with all of you!” Video Dib said proudly, “This is a historic moment, remember that.”

Video Dib then pulled out a surgical knife and made a Y-shaped incision into Zim’s chest. 

Something about the sound of it made Older Dib stop his work and stare blankly at his work. Dib could see the shame in his face, and now it was really starting to set in on himself as well. 

How was he any better than Zim when he knew that Zim’s worst fear was being dissected, and he still did it anyway. Older Dib was undoubtedly thinking the same thing. 

There’s nothing heroic about cutting open someone who died by taking that fall that would’ve killed Dib. 

“Right here is the Squeedlyspooch. It’s his primary organ that acts as a stomach, lungs and…” Video Dib paused his poking, observing one of the many tubes attached to the spooch, “Other intestinal functions. I’ll remove them one by one-“

“Please turn that off.” Older Dib requested curtly. 

Dib complied, he didn’t think he wanted to see the rest of it either. 

Older Dib must have seen some sort of discomfort or whatever unpleasant emotion he was feeling in his face because he then added, “I don’t think it’s bad for us to be curious, but since I did that…Ever since, I’ve wanted nothing more than to learn more about Zim while he was still alive.” 

Dib let out a laugh, it was strange, he didn’t know why he was laughing at a memory that involved Zim, but something about it ticked him. 

“You know, if you talk to him as politely as possible, he’ll tell you almost anything you want to know,” Dib said with a chuckle, “But getting him to hear me was always so hard, he made it so easy just to yell at him.”

That got a smile out of Older Dib, who in turn, started to reminisce himself. 

“Yeah, he was funny like that.” Older Dib agreed, “I’m glad you’ll at least get to see him again, and if you’re ever fighting on the roof of Dad’s lab, try to pull yourself in before you both fall.” 

“But if I alter history, won’t you cease to exist?” Dib asked. 

Older Dib placed a hand on his shoulder, “I’m still you, we’ll be okay. Besides, this future isn’t the one we should be living in.” 

Wow, older him was pretty poetic. 

As Older Dib was finishing the Portal, Dib went out into the backyard to sort of ‘pay his respects’ while he still could. 

Zim and his little robots’ graves were marked with a simple rock. It wasn’t much of a headstone, but it at least had a few flowers lying beside it, and they looked new. 

“Hey dead Zim, I’m uh…Sorry that it all came down to this.” Dib stated awkwardly, he hadn’t attempted to talk to the dead since…

Dib shook his head and continued on, “You’re crazy, you’ve nearly gotten me and everyone on Earth killed multiple times, but…When I think about it, you’ve saved me and the Earth a decent amount of times too.” 

He felt his knees shake and chose to sit down, not wanting to fall over pathetically. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever completely understand you, but I’ll try to, because someone has to keep you in check and I still want to discover what's out there.” Dib said, “And…I’m sorry for what I did to you and your robots.” 

Saying sorry was easy when the person you’re apologizing to is dead, that’s for sure. 

“You’ll probably want this with you.” Dib propped Zim’s broken pak against the gravestone and stood up to leave, “See you on the other side.” 

Upon returning inside, Dib could see that Older Dib nearly flawlessly recreated Zim’s portal. It was virtually identical, so it seemed Older Dib’s extensive knowledge on Zim’s technology had come in handy. 

“You should be ready to go! Safe travels, little Dib.” Older Dib told him, and then stuffed a piece of folded up paper into his jacket pocket, “And read this once you’re back home.” 

“Thanks, future me. I hope you live a better life than this one, you know, if you don’t suddenly stop existing once I change the course of time.” Dib said back, the two hugged, and Dib stood before the portal.

Before he breached the portal, Older Dib had one last thing to say to him. 

“Once you see Zim again, please do this for me-“

…

Dib arrived back in Zim’s lab, and through his re-entrance, Zim’s portal exploded behind him. 

“What?! NO! Filthy Dib, you broke it!” Zim screeched, picking up the pieces of his brilliant plan, then he looked towards Dib with an angry expression, his eyes bright and lively despite his animosity. 

It was a relief to see Zim look alive again. He must have been smiling, because Zim’s angry face turned into a confused one. 

“Why are you smiling at Zim?” Zim asked him. 

Dib's response was to walk over and give him a great big hug, slightly lifting Zim off the ground as he did it. Zim began to wiggle around in his grip and kick his legs at Dib’s side. 

“RELEASE ME!!” Zim’s loud annoying voice pierced his ears. 

“Relax, I’m just hugging you.” Dib told him, putting him back down, “I’m only doing that because my future self told me to.” 

Zim seemed all types of confused at what he was saying, his antenna quirked around in all sorts of directions trying to grasp what was said to him, and no amount of explaining could ever make anything he experienced make any sense. 

“I’m heading out, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” Dib said in a friendly tone, and as expected, he was met with a rather quiet and polite response back. 

“Yeah, okay.” Zim said, nodding. 

Dib took the elevator up, passing Gir who was sitting on the couch with Minimoose watching TV. Dib waved at them and Gir eagerly waved back. 

A loud “WAIT!” could just barely be heard and Dib took that as his signal to get out of there and avoid conflict. It seems Zim could only really keep calm for a short period of time before he went back to his usual manic self…And that was just fine. 

While outside by the steps, Dib unfolded the message given to him and read quietly to himself. 

“  
_I’ve wanted to tell you Zim’s last words, but I wasn’t strong enough to speak them out loud. So, instead I decided to write them down. That way you’ll always be able to remember it just as I have, you’ll be able to see Zim from a different perspective._

_Before Zim died, he told me to call the Tallest._

_I went to his base and had Gir help me start the call. When I told Zim’s leaders that he died, they celebrated. They were happy he was gone. They thanked me for killing him._

_They told me that Zim’s mission was fake._

_Earth was never in danger, the only danger came from whenever Zim’s plans happened to kind of work._

_The Irken Empire never planned on invading Earth, they had never even heard of the place until Zim happened to find it._

_They told me about how they banished Zim, and when he came back and insisted on being an invader, they sent him off hoping he would just get lost and die._

_After that call, I could never get in contact with the Tallest again. True to their word, they never invaded Earth, and I never found concrete proof of the paranormal ever again._

_I felt proud at first, which is a feeling I now regret._

_I thought I was finally getting some recognition, some acknowledgment that I had saved the Earth._

_The reality is, Zim was just like me. No one wanted him, they all despised him. He died unloved, he died alone and it got me thinking that there’s a chance I’m going to die alone just like him._

_I was the only person who thought Zim was a capable invader and a dangerous one too, just as he thought I was the smartest and most cunning human on the planet._

_We were the only two people that were really there for each other, in a weird sort of way, and that was gone._

_I know he’s crazy. He’s loud and annoying, sometimes he makes no sense at all, he does dangerous things in hope of approval from people who don’t care about him, but he’s our friend._

_If given the chance, I think I’d try to see our rivalry as a friendship. Now that you have the chance to do that, I hope you’ll do the same._

_He may be insane, but let’s face it, we’re kind of insane too._

_Best of luck out there,_

_Dib Membrane_

“

Dib folded the letter and placed it back in his pocket. He stared up at the sky which was beginning to turn dark. The stars were beginning to shine…

He’d have to trick Zim into taking him up in the voot cruiser to see them up closer one of these days.


End file.
